26th AIDS Walk New York draws 40,000 people to Central Park in honor of loved ones lost to disease

The 26th annual AIDS Walk New York drew throngs of marchers to Central Park, their enthusiasm undampened by intermittent rain.

Tina Minter, 51, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, came to remember her sister Lisa, who was just 31 when she died 15 years ago. Sunday would have been Lisa's birthday.

"My sister was a very beautiful person, always lending a helping hand," Minter said. "I'm sure she's looking down on us, and she's proud. I raised $1,000 in her name."

The 10-kilometer walk - billed as the largest AIDS fundraising event in the world - raises money for HIV programs and services throughout the tri-state area. Recipients of the funds include AIDS prevention, care and advocacy group GMHC, which was originally known as the Gay Men's Health Crisis, and three dozen community organizations that help people with AIDS.

(...) To mark AIDS Walk Day, local pols called on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve the over-the-counter sale of rapid HIV test kits. Nearly 300,000 people nationwide who have HIV don't know they're infected.

"There is good reason to believe that some individuals who would otherwise test themselves for HIV avoid clinics and outreach centers because of the perceived stigma involved," Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Queens and Brooklyn) said in a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg.